Police sting catches Telford man with child images
A factory worker who downloaded indecent images of children as young as three and incited a child to engage in sexual activity has avoided jail.
Stuart Stringer engaged in sexual activity with what he thought was a 12 year old girl, asking her explicit questions and sending pictures of himself.
However it turned out to be a police officer, and Stringer was arrested and charged with a string of offences.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday, Judge Peter Barrie said it would be in the public interest to rehabilitate Stringer and decided to suspend the sentence.
Mr McConghly, prosecutor, told the court while engaging in conversation with what he thought was a young girl, he asked for upskirt pictures and other explicit pictures.
The 49-year-old, of Winifreds Drive, Donnington, also sent explicit pictures of himself to the girl.
He was arrested and gave no comment to questions from police.
A Samsung mobile phone was examined and indecent images of children were found, some as young as three or four.
Stringer had category A images on devices.
'Extremely vulnerable'
Curtis Myrie, defending, said his client acknowledged what he had done and accepted his guilt.
He said his client wanted help and to be rehabilitated and was petrified at the thought of going to prison.
He explained the offences were committed when his client was isolated and lonely, and he had not been in a relationship for many years.
Mr Myrie said: "He is an extremely vulnerable person. I ask he be given the opportunity to go and work and rehabilitated."
Judge Peter Barrie said: "You are 49 and have never been in trouble with the courts or police before, but I have to deal with you because of offences that were committed over a repeated period of time.
"These are not victimless crimes, the children in these pictures have already been abused.
"I have to consider if it is necessary to give you immediate custody. The public interest would be best served by seeing you rehabilitated rather than receiving a short period of imprisonment."
He gave Stringer nine months in prison, suspended for two years and ordered him to attended 40 days of rehabilitation and 100 hours of unpaid work.
